The Things That Really Matter III
by Pir8grl
Summary: Call this one a bit of an epilogue.
1. Chapter 1

Their 'guests' had finally dispersed, and Sara had set the ship on lockdown - no way were they moving until everyone had had a solid twenty fours hours of rest. There was just so far that catnaps in corners and massive amounts of caffeine could take you.

She and Snart were ambling back to their quarters. His arm was draped over her shoulders. She had an arm wrapped around his waist, and her head rested wearily against his shoulder. They tended to be more guarded of their privacy in public, but this mission had been a tough one, on so many levels.

"Do you need to get checked out?" she asked him quietly.

"I had Gideon give me a once over. How about that cut on your head?"

"Taken care of."

"Good," he murmured.

Snart waited until the door shut behind them to pull Sara into his arms. He tucked his face into the crook of her neck, just breathing her in. "I'm glad we saved your friend," he whispered against her skin.

"So am I."

He straightened, and Sara could see questions in his eyes. "What is it?" she asked softly, her fingers idly playing with his collar.

"I guess…I'm still sort of amazed by all this. All these people, working together. Queen didn't even contact all of them directly. They just heard what happened, and turned up to help."

"Why do you suppose that is?" she asked, staring intently into his eyes.

"The old me would say it's because she's a valuable asset. Felicity knows everyone's secrets, and then there's the whole computer thing."

"And now?"

"None of those people turned up because they were afraid she'd spill the beans to the bad guys. They came because…"

"Because they love her. It's OK to say the word sometimes, you know."

"I'm not used to it. Certainly not on this scale."

"That's her superpower, you know. Not the computers, not the tech. She inspires people."

"So do you."

Sara huffed out a breath that was somewhere between a sigh and a rueful laugh. "Not like this."

"You inspire me," Snart told her, pulling her tight against him again.

Sara lost track of how long they stood there, her cheek pressed to his chest. The steady beat of his heart and the gentle motion of his hand in her hair lulled her almost to the point of dozing off on her feet. She pulled back slightly so she could see his face. Snart's eyes were mostly shut, she noticed with some amusement.

"Come on, crook," she invited, tugging him in the direction of the bunk. "Let's get some rest. We did good today."

"We did," he agreed.


	2. Chapter 2

"You're not asleep, Leonard," Sara murmured, without lifting her head from his chest.

"I'm sorry," Snart replied, his voice equally quiet. "I didn't mean to disturb you." He stroked a hand gently over her arm in apology.

"You didn't. I can always tell…you know that."

"Yeah, I do," he said, pressing his lips to the faint white line at her hairline, all that remained of the day's injuries.

"Are you all right? It's been a rough few days. You should sleep."

"I know. I just can't seem to turn off my thoughts."

"Tell me? Maybe that'll make it go away."

"I was just thinking…Oliver Queen may be the bravest man I've ever met."

"One of them," Sara agreed.

"Not the way you're thinking," he said thoughtfully.

"What do you mean?"

"I am a selfish, greedy, bastard," he said, carefully enunciating each word.

Sara leaned up on one elbow. "Hey…"

"There's always been this voice, in the back of my mind, that said that it was…safe…to love you. Because you can take care of yourself…that if we ever went up against anything bad enough to take you away from me…well, I'd probably already be dead. What does that say about me?"

"That you're human?"

"But Queen…he loves someone who could be taken from him in a heartbeat. I don't know if I could do that."

"Leonard. We _**all**_ do that. We all love someone we could lose in a heartbeat - and we are all selfish, greedy, bastards. We take whatever happiness we can, for however long we can, because we never know when our time is up. I think you and I know that better than most people. And if you're having this conversation, you are even more tired than you realize. Sleep."


End file.
